Asahi Premium Beverages is home to a stable of brands, including Vodka Cruiser, Somersby, Schweppes, Woodstock and Asahi Super Dry.

Cummins&Partners held the Asahi Super Dry creative account for six years. It's unclear if the agency will continue to work on Vodka Cruiser, which is one of the brand's in its large portfolio.

At the end of 2016, AdNews revealed that TBWA Melbourne had won the creative for Peroni Beer, which Asahi purchased from AB InBev in 2016 for £2 billion. AdNews understands that TBWA also holds the Schweppes account.

The sale was a condition to ensure the AB InBev and SABMiller merger could pass competition watchdogs who were concerned about beer market concentration.

The Monkeys Sydney previously worked with Asahi GM of marketing Michael Edmonds during his time as GM of global marketing at Meat & Livestock Australia.

Edmonds says: “The Monkeys are a great agency, we love their work and the new team in Melbourne come with some awesome beer experience. We cannot wait to see what they can do with our brands”.

The Monkeys group CEO Mark Green adds: “We love working with ambitious clients and Michael Edmonds and the team at APB will be terrific partners.”

The Monkeys Melbourne CEO Paul McMillan says: “Asahi marks a great win for The Monkeys and the Melbourne team can’t wait to get started.”

Paul McMillan, Ant Keogh and Michael Derepas worked on The Big Ad for Carlton Draught

The Monkeys officially set up shop in Melbourne earlier this year following its acquisition by Accenture. Asahi Premium Beverages marks the fourth client win for The Monkeys in Melbourne since opening its doors in August last year. Other account wins include Holden, CrownBet and Australia Post.